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Letters & CommentsBill Tallen
George W. Tallen, Jr. (Bill Tallen) serves in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the director of Agent Operations, Western Command, for the Office of Secure Transportation, National Nuclear Security Administration. The federal agents under his command provide safe and secure transportation of nuclear materials nationwide. His career with the NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, spans eighteen years of service as a federal agent, training specialist, and manager, including duties in the Special Response Force program and in the development of tactical doctrine and response planning. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico in 1982 and is a 2007 graduate of the national security and strategic studies master’s degree program at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Mr. Tallen can be reached at gtallen@doeal.gov.
Paramilitary Terrorism: A Neglected Threat
ABSTRACT:
A fixation upon WMD terrorism, reinforced by the recurring need to manage the consequences of other manmade or natural disasters,
conditions the homeland security community to focus upon prevention and consequence management,
with scant attention paid to resolving an ongoing terrorist incident of a paramilitary nature.
Seizure by a large, well-armed terrorist group of either a soft target, like Russia’s Beslan No. 1 School in 2004,
or a hard target such as nuclear materials or facilities, could have enormous strategic consequences.
It would demand swift, decisive response beyond the capability of local agencies.
Domestic counterterrorist capabilities are limited in capability and poorly postured for response to such an incident.
Standing, regionally-based, swiftly responding federal forces with a streamlined command and control structure are needed,
along with a reorientation of homeland security guidance, training, and exercises to include response to threats of this nature.
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SUGGESTED CITATION:
Tallen, Bill. “Paramilitary Terrorism: A Neglected Threat.” Homeland Security Affairs IV, no. 2 (June 2008)http://www.hsaj.org/?article=4.2.6